Restaurant Brands met its sales forecast for 2018, with revenue rising 49 per cent to $740.8 million, as acquisitions in Hawaii and Australia bolstered earnings.
In June last year, chief executive Russel Creedy said the company expected to "comfortably" exceed revenue of $700m in the 2018 financial year and it was aiming to reach $1 billion in annual sales.
Today, the company reported it had done that with fourth-quarter earnings, for the 12 weeks ended February 26, at $181.3m, a 49 per cent lift on the same period in 2017. The full earnings are due on April 17.
In New Zealand, Restaurant Brands runs KFC, Pizza Hut, Carl's Jr and Starbucks Coffee, while in the last 18 months it has added Hawaii, where it operates 82 Taco Bell and Pizza Hut stores, and Australia, where it operates 61 KFC outlets in New South Wales.
KFC New Zealand sales rose 7.8 per cent to $319.6m in the year, up 6.2 per cent on a same-store basis, with fourth-quarter sales rising 7.1 per cent to $75.7m, up 5 per cent on a same-store basis. Store numbers rose by two in the year to 94, with one outlet opening at Christchurch Airport during the quarter.